Hobby Update - 28th March 2023

 It has been a super-busy time and no mistake! Lots of work things going on, lots of family things...at times, it has been quite tough-going. Unusually for me, it hasn't impacted too much on the gaming, but it has seemed to effect the painting side more.

 In January, I was working on some US paratroopers from Warlord for my youngest son. As usual, my painting is very average, but the figures are nice and kind of carried them through. My son seemed happy enough, in any case!

Next up, some 6mm Dutch from Baccus for the War of the Spanish Succession. And as befits that army, no more than half of them are Dutch...there are Scots, Swiss, Huguenots and Nassauers in amongst them...I mainly used a combination of the Kronstadt website and Mark Allen's old Wargames Illustrated articles to guide me; hopefully that isn't too awful a choice! I know that real afficianados should be buying Robert Hall's stuff, but since this project has a touch of the imagi-nations about it, I didn't want to pay more for the reference guide than I did for the army...

Next up, some buildings from 2D6 Wargaming, before they very sadly closed down - these are some of their Normandy buildings. They were still a work-in-progress at this stage, but good looking buildings will always find a use!

 Next, some Baccus WW2 US artillery, 105s and 155s. More nice models, and very important if you need to get a game at slightly higher command levels.

More figures for my youngest: Perry Mahdists. Again, really great figures, and not too complicated to paint. My youngest seemed pretty happy...

More Perrys for my youngest. This time, Agincourt-era Mounted Knights. I can really not do these justice, but they were nice all the same. I used the horse painting guide from Henry Hyde's Wargaming Compendium in a step-by-step wat for the first time, and it did make the horses slightly better, with more convincing socks and face markings and so on.

 And then to accompany them, the Agincourt Foot Knights:

Very repetitive I know, but same again: delightful figures, painting not so hot, but niceness of the figures shines through anyway. And the son seemed to like them too!

I have a feeling there are a couple of bits and pieces of 6mm stuff I may have forgotten to put on, but I am sure I will remember at some point! In any case, I have finished the stuff that my son had wanted me to do for him, so next painting phase will be more me-focused. In no particular order, the main 'themes' are:

6mm WW2 Vehicles and Infantry (more German vehicles and Volksturm, some US Paras)

6mm WSS/Horse & Musket (just 'bits and pieces' really, filling in gaps where I would like a new unit)

6mm Byzantines (whole army to paint up)

6mm Napoleonics (more gap fillers, particularly Confederation of the Rhine units)

6mm Ancients (a couple of minor gap fillers - e.g. some Cataphracts)

6mm SF (more gap fillers)

15mm Cold War (some militia and terrorists, plus some East Germans)

28mm Heroquest figures, plus a few historical fillers (e.g. Napoleonic French Dragoons, Vikings)

 

So more than enough to be getting on with, even if it is only the Byzantines who individually constitute a big project.

I have prioritized gaming over painting, and to some extent blogging. I am just over halfway through the Napoleonic campaign I am running with my two fantastic volunteer generals - it has been a lot of fun (for me at least), really interesting (I have a lot to write about how much I have learned whilst doing it) and has also generated a few exciting tabletop encounters. I guess depending on how we pace it, there is another 1-2 months left in this one, and I am beginning to think what the next one would look like. Additionally, there are a couple more Kampfgruppe Heller encounters for Gummipanzergrenadier playtesting to write up, a couple more Napoleonic scenario playtests to report on and a couple more 'Neil Thomas-esque' scenarios that I have played. I have a couple of days off over Easter, that might give me a chance to catch up!